Hot beverages and the like are constantly being served in environments in which an accidental spill can result in a painful injury, property damage and other undesirable results.
For example, on airlines, trains and the like, it is customary to serve both hot and cold beverages to passengers. Quite often, these beverages are served in disposable paper or plastic drinking cups or containers which may or may not be provided with lids to retain the heat in the hot drinks or provide a straw slot for the cold drinks. A similar environment exists in various other passenger vehicles in which such drinks are consumed while the vehicle is in motion thereby rendering the beverage susceptible to spilling.
In the prior art such as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,056,210 of Patrick T. Boyle, issued Nov. 1, 1977, for Splash-Proof Drink-Through Beverage Container Lid, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,106,660 of Patrick T. Boyle, issued Aug. 15, 1978, for Splash-Proof Drink-Through Beverage Container Lid, such drink-through cup lids generally similar to the type embodying the present invention have been fabricated from polystyrene sheet or foam material or the like, such as polypropylene sheet, using standard thermo-forming procedures.
Both of the prior art efforts embodied in the foregoing patents of Patrick T. Boyle are characterized by the use of score lines or partial cuts defining the tear-away segment and placed within the confines of the central web of the lid such that upward and outward tearing at those score lines by the insertion of a fingernail or the like through a given one of the score lines results in further tearing of the bead cavity and outer skirt of the lid such that a full generally pie shaped section is torn from the lid and can be replaced by pressing the bead cavity portion thereof back over the top rim or bead of the container from which it has just been removed.
Because of the extent of cut-through in the scoring utilized in these configurations, there is a tendency for some seepage to occur if the containers on which these lids are placed happen to be inadvertently overturned prior to the removal of the tear-away sections therefrom. Also it is required that a fingernail or finger tip be inserted through the scored areas to grip the tear-away sections for removal.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved drink-through beverage container lid having a pre-scored configuration without cut-through and a structural configuration providing the rupturing of the score lines by squeezing between the thumb and forefinger of the user to initiate removal of a wedge-shaped drink-through section from the lid which is ultimately replaceable on the container at that portion of the rim of the container from which it has previously been removed.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for reliably and accurately manufacturing such lids so that the behavior of the score lines is predictable.
These and other objects of the present invention become more fully apparent with reference to the following specification and drawings which relate to a preferred embodiment of the lid of the present invention as well as the method of manufacture.